Sonic Ultimate
by Jiece18
Summary: A reboot of the Sonic Universe. As tensions between mobians and humans reach a breaking point, the appearance of a hedgehog will herald a time of light and darkness to the world.
1. Chapter 1

**Prolog**

Long ago, a meteor impacted the Earth. Housed within the meteor was a massive emerald that contained the essence of the water god, Chaos. Chaos slept for centuries as the energy from the emerald began to effect the area around it. Animal species began to evolve at a rapid pace, gaining humanoid form. The first species to truly gain intelligence was the echidnas. Freeing the emerald from ground, they began to worship the god within while enslaving the less evolved species around them. For reasons unknown, the emerald and the echidnas vanished. Even without the emerald, its influence continued to affect the remaining animals. Conflict was enviable as the different species clashed for dominance. Eventually, a young squirrel rose up and through much hard work, managed to unite most of the species together. A kingdom was founded with the squirrel named the first king, thus the Kingdom of Acorn was formed. To better aid in the unification, the animals began to refer themselves as mobians and the world they live on, Mobius. As they expanded, the mobians discovered that they were located on a large island with many smaller islands surrounding it. Expansion projects were quickly put into place.

The mobians were once again brought into conflict with the arrival of humans. Despite the power of chaos speeding up their evolution, the mobians technology was vastly inferior to the humans. Armed with nothing more complex than swords and catapults, the only advantage the mobians had were the numerous golden rings that appeared on their island. With practice, the rings could be merged into any other material, vastly increasing its strength. This kept the conflict relatively even. The stalemate was broken with the defection of Julian Kinbot, a human scientist who grew resentful of how the humans treated the mobians. Combining advance technology with the power of the gold rings, the humans were pushed back and an uneasy truce was struck. The large island and smaller islands would remain under mobian control. The peace has manage to last for over ten years.

* * *

 **Knothole Village**

Located south of the main island, South Island was the first one explored and settled by mobian explorers. Relatively untouched by the war, the residences had been slow to adopt the newer technologies. A fact the villagers took with pride as they felt their mainland cousins were losing their touch with nature. A large village centered around a massive oak tree, primarily a farming village, it had little in the way of defenses. Around midnight, that fact was exploited.

A trio of dark grey ships silently flew over the village. Roughly rectangular in shape with small oval pods that served as the ships hover engines. Doors on two of the ship slid open as they reached the outskirts of the village. A group of armored humans leapt out of the ship, nearly a dozen in number. The armor they wore hid their features and bore no insignia. The weapons they carried were large rifles. One of them with red highlights on her armor stepped in front of the others.

"Alright, you all know the drill. Let's try and capture most of these things alive. The boss was not happy with the quality of fur we delivered last time." The rest of the group grunted a yes as they prepped to move out. "Move out!"

The three ships flew at the village as the group charged. Small laser canons mounted underneath the ships opened fire. The ships strafed the outskirts of the village, their weapons primarily hitting the ground around the houses. The escalating noise caused many mobians to run out of their houses and into the line of fire of the armored humans. Small darts flew from their guns and anyone hit with one was quickly knocked out by a powerful tranquilizer. A few of the mobians appeared outside, armed with small caliber bullet based weapons. They tried to fire back, but the weapons did little to the humans' armor. Any who attempted to escape the village were quickly slowed down by weapon fire from the ships until they too were knocked out by tranquilizer darts.

An elderly badger managed to surprise a couple of the humans by flinging a large bag of flour into their heads, temporally blocking sight through the visors of their helmets. He shoulder tackled a third one down as he took off in a run. Despite his best efforts, he fell to a hail of darts. A bundle wrapped in a blanket he had been carrying dropped to the ground. A small fox crawled out of the blanket. He had orange fur, blue eyes, and looked to be no more than ten years old. He went to the downed badger and tried to wake him.

"Hey!" One of the armored humans walked up. "Check that out. It's got two tails!"

"Really." Another one joined him. "Bet that would make for a good hat."

The fox took off as fast as his legs would carry him as the humans laughed. The two gave chase and manage to trap the small fox against a building. "End of the line." The first one aimed his rifle at him. "They always think they can run." He expected a response from his teammate, but heard nothing. "Phil?" The human glanced around, but there was no sign of him. They hadn't ran that far. "Whatever?" He turned his attention back to the fox. His aim was blocked by another mobian. Whoever it was had on a brown traveling cloak with hood covering his features. The human simply chuckled as he pulled the trigger. At least he tried to pull the trigger, the rifle had been pulled from his grasp by the mobian. "How?" The mobian answered by smashing the rifle across the human's armored head. Before he could recover from the blow, the fists of the mobian lashed out with such speed, the human felt like he was being hit by machine gun fire. Just as he was about to fall down, he was hit with what he could only describe as a cannonball and sent flying back several feet.

The woman in charge of the group saw the guy fly past her position and crash into the ground nearby. She and several of the others nearby turned to where he had flown from. The mobian in the travelers cloak walked towards them as he pulled the cloak off. Standing a bit over four feet, the mobian was dressed in red and white sneakers, black pants, and white gloves. He sported blue fur and piercing green eyes. The slicked back, sharp quills told the humans what he was. "A hedgehog!"

"But?" One of the humans ran up to her. "I thought all the hedgehogs were gone."

"Guess one survived. Take him, we'll make some serious money from his hide." All the humans open fire.

The hedgehog leapt high into the air curled into a ball. Blue energy swirled around him and he shot at them like he had been fired from a cannon. He impacted one of the humans, sending him flying through the wall of a building. The others turned to fire, but he had vanished.

"Find him!"

One of them ran to the spot where the hedgehog had hit his comrade and found a small hole in the ground. Before he could yell out, the hedgehog flew out of the hole, still curled up and smashed into his armored head. The hedgehog didn't wait for the human to drop as he charged for the others. Three of them had group together and fired at him. He curled into a ball and sped forward to avoid the darts. He stopped in the center of the group and uncurled. He lashed out with high speed punches and kicks. He had knocked out the three humans in less than a minute.

The leader of the group called in the last four of her men who were still standing. They surrounded the hedgehog while their ships continue to circle the village. "What are you?"

The hedgehog smirked. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog. Who are you?"

"Captain Raza."

Sonic looked around at the damaged village. "Social visit?"

"Fur is still big business to my people. Animals here are bigger here than the ones where we come from."

Sonic's eyes narrowed and flashed with blue light. "Is that all you see?"

Raza took aim. "What else is there?" Sonic curled into a ball and began to spin in place like a buzz saw. Smoke started to flow from where he came in contact with the ground. The four other humans seemed to be memorized by the sight. "Shoot him you idiots." Snapped out of it by Raza's yell, they fired their rifles. Before the darts could reach their targets, Sonic shot forward with blue light trailing behind him. He slammed into the four like a blue pinball and sent each of them flying. He charged at Raza who jumped back to avoid him. Sonic stopped and stood up a few feet away from her. She tried to fire her rifle, but it had been sliced in half. "How?"

"Since you only knocked people out, I'm going to let you gather up your goons and leave before they wake up. I doubt they would be as nice as me."

"And what is stopping me from ordering my ships to level this village?"

As she finished her question, Sonic took off in a run that made him almost appear as a blur. He ran up the side of the massive tree in the center of the building and launched himself at one of the ships. He curled up and cut his way through the metal ship. The engines sparked and several small explosions went off as the ship started to crash. The hatch on the ship flew open and Sonic jumped out with the pilot over his shoulder. The ship crashed as Sonic landed and dropped the pilot.

He rubbed his shoulder. "Touch on the heavy side." The pilot crawled away as fast as he could. Sonic walked towards Raza. "You can fly or walk. I really don't care either way."

"This isn't over." Raza used her radio to call the remaining ships for a pick up.

Sonic sighed as they piled into their ships and flew out of sight. He felt a tug on his arm. It was the two tailed fox he had saved earlier. "Are you a super hero?"

As he looked in the fox's blue eyes, Sonic nodded his head. "You bet I am."


	2. New Day

**Knothole Village**

The sun was setting as Sonic walked into Brookshire's house. He had spent the day rebuilding the houses that had been damaged, while under the adoring gaze of the young two tailed fox who invited him to stay at his house. His caretaker was the elderly badger that had tried to get him away during the attack. Fortunately, those who had been tranquilized had come out of it with no visible side effects and only minor injuries had been inflicted. Brookshire smiled as Sonic walked in.

"I don't know how we will be able to thank you."

"I don't need any thanks. I am happy to help."

Brookshire motioned from the hedgehog to sit at a small table. "You saved us from a terrible fate and repaired much of the damage in less than a day." He set a wooden cup on the table and filled it with apple juice. "I'm afraid we don't have the more popular drinks the kids like on the mainland."

"I'm sixteen, but this is fine. To tell you the truth, fruit juice was all me and my Uncle Chuck had other than water."

"Chuck?" The badger sat down near Sonic. "Your uncle's name wouldn't happen to be Charles Hedgehog?"

"Yeah. You knew him?"

"Few who fought in The Great War hadn't heard about him. He was one of our greatest scientist. He along with the human, Julian were the keys to our victory and obtaining peace. He vanished shortly after the war around the same time as the …" Brookshire stopped and frowned. "Sorry."

"It's alright. I'm aware of the Hedgehog Massacre. Most hedgehogs remained in one village and they were wiped out by something unidentified. We lived on a small island south from here. He said that we needed to remain hidden from something terrible, but he never said what that thing was. I was content with that for a while."

"What changed?"

"About a year ago, he vanished. So I got in our biplane and came to look for him."

"I am sorry I forced you to bring it up."

Sonic smiled. "Uncle Chuck always told me to keep a positive mood about everything. No one ever got anything done by dwelling on things." Sonic glanced around. "I seem to have lost my little shadow."

Sensing the desire to change the subject, Brookshire responded. "Miles is asleep in his room. He came in about an hour ago, exhausted."

"Little guy has been through a lot. What happened to his parents?"

"Both fought in the war and both fell. My late wife was his godmother so we looked after the infant. We were happy to do it since we didn't have any children of our own. She passed away about two years ago. I came here to give him a peaceful and quiet life." Brookshire sighed. "That boy deserves more than he has received."

"Any idea why the village was attacked?"

"The peace between us and the humans is strenuous at best. Many of them see us as little more than large animals. It is hard to convince them otherwise when smaller and less developed members of our species exists in their own territory. Our ambassador is a rabbit and when he went to meet with the human ambassador, the human's daughter was there and she just happened to have a pet rabbit. Needless to say, the meeting did not go well."

"Sorry I asked." Sonic drank his juice. "This stuff is awesome."

"Traditionally made." The badger poured him another cup. "So how long do you plan on staying? You are more than welcome to stay here as long as you like."

"It depends on how long it takes me to fix my plane."

"Is something wrong with it?"

"My uncle taught me how to fly, but did quite get to the part on how to land. I hid it under some brush a few miles away."

"We may like to keep it simple here, but there are plenty of former mechanics and other skilled mobians that came here to retire. Tomorrow morning we'll get you airborne."

"Thanks."

* * *

"So how fast can you run?"

"Not sure." Sonic and Miles were walking through the forest, towards Sonic's hidden plane. After a good night's rest, Miles had more than enough energy to ask Sonic hundreds of questions. "I can run across water when I am near my max."

"So based on your size and estimated weight." The two-tailed fox mumbled a bit as he seemed to do some calculations in his head. "I'd say about 70 miles per hour."

Sonic laughed a bit. "You did all that in your head. That is kind of cool."

"I guess." Miles sighed.

"Something wrong?"

"The kids pick on me for it. That and my name."

"Your name?"

"Miles. I wish I had a cool name like yours."

"Hey, my uncle is the smartest person I know and he is way past cool."

"Really?"

"Yep." Sonic stopped long enough to show Miles one of the sneakers he was wearing. "I was constantly going through shoes when I was your age. He forged these out of gold rings. Not only do they not show any wear or tear, they even grow with my feat."

"That is awesome."

"So don't let having a big brain get you down. And your name is fine, just need a good nickname." Sonic rubbed his chin and closed his eyes like he was in deep thought. "How about Tails?"

"But they make fun of my tails."

Sonic lightly punched him in the shoulder. "They're just jealous. It makes you unique and stand out. As far as I am aware, I am the only hedgehog with blue fur. My uncle had grey and my parents had brown."

"Then why not call yourself blue?"

Sonic smirked and shot forward at high speed and a small sonic boom went off as he came back. "I think Sonic is more accurate title."

"How did you do that? You would have needed to go over 700 miles per hour."

"I can push myself to go that fast for a short while." Sonic took a few deep breaths. "But it does take a bit out of me." He looked around and nodded. "This is it." He walked over to what looked like a large bush. He ran around it fast enough to create a vortex and the brush was blown away, revealing the plane. It was primarily red with a white stripe on the tail. A pair of lower wings with a longer single one resting just above the pilot seat. The propeller was broken and there was a large gash in one of the lower rings. "I swore it looked better yesterday."

"What happened to it?"

Before Sonic could answer him, a female's voice issued from the plane. "He forgot to charge the fuel cells. Again!"

Miles ran toward the source of the voice. "Who was that?"

"That would be me." A small dome of light on the controls flashed whenever the voice spoke. "My name is Nicole. I am an AI developed by Charles Hedgehog."

"Artificial Intelligence?" Miles climbed into the pilot seat. "I thought that was impossible."

"Sadly I am not fully aware of what my father went through in order to develop my program, but if you would like, I could describe my how my higher processes operate along with my hardware specs."

"Nicole!" Sonic leaned against the plane. "Don't bore the poor boy."

"But this is neat."

"If you say so." Sonic opened up a small storage compartment and pulled out a length of rope. "We grew up together and I could barely stay awake through her science talk."

"She grew up?"

"I am right here, Miles." Nicole chimed in. "And yes, when I was brought online for the first time, my intelligence was little more than a toddlers. My father instructed me as he did Sonic and only allowed me to download information directly when I had matured."

"Father? You consider Sonic's uncle your father."

"He treated me with the same devotion as he did Sonic. How could I simply call him creator?"

Sonic whistled. "Sorry to interrupt." He had tied one end of the rope to the plane and the other end was wrapped around his waist. "But you might want to hang on Miles."

"Ok, but call me Tails."

* * *

It only took Sonic a few minutes to tow his plane to the village. A small group of villagers were waiting for him. They had gathered as many tools as they could find and began to get to work when the plane was brought to a stop.

Sonic untethered himself from the plane as Brookshire approached. "Hey, good news. It appears you have the day off. Tails will be entertained for the rest of the day."

"Tails?"

"Miles' new nickname. He seems to like it."

The badger nodded. "You must come with me. We need your help again?"

"Sure."

Brookshire led Sonic to his house. A coyote who looked no older than Sonic was laying on a couch. He was dressed in what appeared to a dirty military uniform.

"What happened?"

Brookshire picked up a pitcher of water and filled a cup. "He ran into the village about an hour ago. His uniform is similar to the royal guard of the Acorn Family. He was too exhausted to speak, but he appears to be coming around." Brookshire helped the young mobian to sit up and drink the water. "Take your time."

"There is no time." The coyote gulped down the water. "My name is Antoine D'Coolette, I am a squire in the royal army." He coughed several times. "The princess, she is in danger."

"Princess?" Sonic looked to Brookshire.

"Princess Sally Acorn. But what is the royal princess doing so far from the capital?"

"The dig at the ruins. We were attacked by strange machines."

Brookshire shook his head. "The ruins are on the far side of the island. An archaeological team was looking for artifacts. I had forgotten about them until now. We can call the main island, but it will take them a day to get here. Will you help her?"

Sonic smirked. "Sure! How often do you get a chance to save a princess?"


	3. Marble Hill

The farming fields of Knothole Village gave way to hills of emerald green as Sonic raced towards the dig site. Since he only had a passing idea of where he was supposed to be going, he did not push himself to his maximum velocity. He skidded to a stop when he spotted a gold ring floating about a foot off the ground. The ring was a foot in diameter and shimmered with golden energy. Sonic grabbed the ring with both hands. It shimmered and vanished as Sonic was bathed in golden light for a brief second. He felt instantly refreshed as he had just had a good night sleep and a full meal. Sonic did not fully understand what the rings were nor why he could use them as such, but he rarely gave it much thought. He was about to continue on his way when a laser blast impacted the ground in front of him. The source was a large red and yellow robotic wasp. The robot's wings flapped at high speeds, making a distinct buzzing sound. Its stinger was the source of the laser blast.

"Must be one of Antione's strange machines." Sonic leapt back as the machine fired another blast near him. "Need to work on your aim." He jumped into the air while curling into a ball. His body flashed with blue light as he shot towards the machine and smashed it to pieces. "That was simple."

As he looked at the destroyed machine, he heard a strange sound coming from a piece of it. Curious, Sonic picked it up. It was a metal sphere, that was just slightly large than his fist. The edges of the sphere glowed with green energy. With a bit of work, Sonic managed to pull the sphere into two halves. The glowing vanished and inside was a small bird. It tweeted a few times before flying away. "What is a bird doing in there?" A buzzing sound filled his ears, and he spotted three more of the robotic wasps flying his way. "I can already tell this is going to be a weird day."

Sonic ran towards the approaching robots intending to take them out the same way he had the first. A large red metal claw suddenly filled his vision and he had to roll across the ground to avoid having it hit him. The claw belonged to a robotic crab that was almost as tall as he was. "Seriously." A rustling sound alerted him to a second crab coming up from behind. Sonic dropped to his knees as its claw snapped the air where his head had been. The first crab scuttled forward to attack him. Sonic curled into a ball and rolled clear as the crab's claw clamped down onto the second one. The buzzing grew louder as the trio of robotic wasps swooped in and opened fire. He ran at the crabs and leapt over them as the wasps fired their laser. The lasers hit the crabs and they exploded.

"Dumb machines."

Sonic's body flashed blue and he launched himself into the air. Curling into a spinning ball in the air, he destroyed all three of the wasps by bouncing between them like a pinball. Each of the destroyed robots had the same metal spheres that remarkably kept the small animal inside safe. The wasps each had a bird and each of the crabs had a small chipmunk.

"Maybe I should have brought Nicole with me." Sonic sighed as he continued on his way. He would have to figure it out later.

* * *

Passing a few marble pillars signaled to Sonic that he had reached the ruins. The ground here was a mix of grass and broken stones, forcing the hedgehog to slow down. He stopped when he came across a large area of rubble. What caught his eye was the remains of tends and metal crates that were underneath the rubble. After a quick search, Sonic found the same type of tranquilizer dart the humans had used when they attacked Knothole Village. A loud crashing sound pulled his thoughts from the dart to the source of the sound. A five-foot wide metal ball had knocked one of the walls of the ruins down. The ball was connected to a hovering pod that looked like the bottom half of a sphere by a large chain. Sitting in the pod appeared to be a human with sparse spiky hair and a large nose. The human spotted the hedgehog and took off his goggles.

"Impossible."

Sonic shrugged as he walked up to the metal ball that was sitting on the ground. "I've been getting that a lot lately." He gave the ball a light kick. It appeared to be solid. "So, I am willing to guess you're reasonable for what happened here."

The human laughed. "Partially. I am simply here to wreck the place."

"Don't suppose you know what happened to the mobians who were staying in the camp?"

"I certainly do rodent." He pressed a button and the pod rose up into the air just enough to lift the ball off the ground. "But that won't matter in just a moment. I, Snively the Great will turn you into hedgehog paste."

The chain began to glow and the ball swung forward. Sonic jumped back to avoid it, but the pod chased him, as the ball seemed to swing with its own momentum. He picked a direction and ran with the pod following close behind. Sonic had to keep looking over his shoulder as the ball repeatedly slammed into the ground, trying to crush him. He spotted a pillar that had started to fall down, but was leaning against a large rock. There was a small opening between the pillar and the ground. He rolled through it as the metal ball shattered the pillar and part of the rock. The resulting destruction kicked up enough dust and debris to obscure Snively's vision for a moment. Sonic picked up his pace and ran up what was left of the pillar. He jumped off the pillar and curled up. He struck the pod with enough force to cause it to shake. Sonic dropped to the ground.

"Are you serious? You can't damage…" Snively's jaw dropped a bit when he saw a huge gash in the armored skin of the pod in the area the hedgehog had hit it. "Impossible!"

"Oh, I am very possible." Sonic began to run in a circle and a small tornado of dirt formed around the pod.

Snively pulled his googles down over his eyes. "This won't stop me." He pressed a few buttons and the metal ball began to spin around on its chain. It cut through the tornado and the pod lowered so the ball would drag across the ground. Snively heard plenty of rocks and other objects being obliterated, but nothing that sounded like a person being hit.

"Hey, Snortly." Sonic appeared in the air above the pod. He curled into a ball as blue energy sparked around his body. He dropped downward like a falling buzz saw. Snively pulled back on the flight stick and the pod moved enough that Sonic only crashed into the right side of the pod. Sonic cut through the pod and dug a few feet into the ground bellow before stopping and uncurling.

The pod rose high into the sky, but it seemed to be having a hard time of it. The large hole Sonic had cut into the pod sparked considerably from exposed and broken wires. "You will pay for this?" Snively smashed his fist on a button and the pod released the chain, and the metal ball crashed into ground near Sonic. "If you survive, I will find you." The pod shot into the distance, moving much faster without the weight of the ball.

"Survive?" Sonic glanced at the metal ball as it began to beep. "Oh crap." Sonic started to run as the ball exploded. Large chunks of metal shrapnel flew everywhere as the ground itself began to crumble. Sonic had to throw himself onto the ground to avoid being hit by the shrapnel, but the ground he was laying on fell apart and he dropped downward. He fell into a large chamber whose floor that was covered in lava. "Starting to think I should have stayed at home." He reached out to a large piece of rubble that was falling with him and pulled it close. He just needed a little bit of traction. Planting his feet on the rubble, he started to run and leapt from it. Sonic managed to crash into a stone platform that jutted out from the wall. He had a sore shoulder and several scrapes, but he was all right overall.

The chamber he was in had clearly been created by whatever mobians had lived in the ruins long ago. Several thirty to forty foot tall pillars ran from the floor to the ceiling were still standing. He could see a few murals carved into the walls, but could not make out what they depicted. The walls around him were a mix of carved stone and rough unworked rock. At full speed, he could run up the side of a relatively smooth wall, but he didn't have the required space to reach full speed or a smooth enough wall to reach the openings in the ceiling.

"Well, when up won't work." Luckily, the lava did a good job lighting up most of the chamber. He could make out a stone arch that framed a tunnel at the other end of the chamber. The platform he was on was roughly a ten foot by ten foot square. Another one along the same wall was a fair distance away. It would get him close, but not near enough to reach the tunnel. This was going to be tricky. Sonic smirked as he did a few quick stretches. He placed his hands on the platform as he began run. His feet made skidding sounds as he picked up speed while his hands kept him from moving. He took a deep breath and moved his hands as he let out the breath. Sonic ran along the side of the wall and just managed to reach the other platform. He picked up the pace and lunched himself onto a broken pillar that just poked out of the lava. He jumped from the broken pillar and rebounded off a still standing one. It was a bit of a crash landing, but he reached the tunnel. There was little to no light in the tunnel, so he had to walk while running his hand along the right wall. "Should have brought a flashlight."

He walked for a few minutes before coming to a place where the tunnel split. One went to the right and one to the left. The right one appeared to have collapsed a few feet down it. "Options." Sonic went down the left tunnel. It was a dead end. Sonic groaned and punch the wall. The wall moved slightly and light began to filter from the cracks. He gave it a hard push and the wall moved like it was on a turntable. He stepped into a relatively well-lit room. It was square with three large stone murals dominating the three walls. A small generator was sitting in the center of the room and was connected by wires to a lamp affixed at each corner of the room. A female chipmunk close to his age was sitting on the ground facing away from him. Unlike the small one he had saved from the robot earlier, this one was an evolved mobian. She had light brown fur and auburn colored hair. She seemed to be glued to the mural she was looking at and didn't react to Sonic's entrance.

"Hello!" She tensed at the sound of his voice. Her hand reached for a small laser blaster that was sitting on the ground next to her. She rolled to her feet as she picked it up and aimed it at Sonic. Sonic held his hands up. "Chill."

Her blue eyes widen at the sight of Sonic. "It can't be." She lowered the blaster and walked over to him. She walked around him examining him as if he was some rare relic. "This is incredible."

Sonic puffed his chest out a bit. "Well I am pretty cool."

The chipmunk ran her hand along one of his sharp quills, which caused Sonic to blush a bit. "You're really a hedgehog."

"Yeah, Sonic the Hedgehog. Who are you?"

"Sally!"

"Really!" Sonic looked over her dirty khaki shorts and vest. "You're Princess Sally?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?"

"You just don't look much like a princess."

She sighed. "You sound like my father. A frilly dress really would not be proper for a dig site?"

"I guess not. What are you doing down here?"

"Studying these ancient murals. They depict some legends from ancient echidna society." She pulled him to one. "Centuries ago, echidnas ruled these islands using the power of powerful emeralds." The mural showed several echidna kneeling in front of a large emerald. Seven smaller ones were depicted floating above them.

"What happened to the echidnas?"

"They vanished. Only the ruins of their civilization remain." She pulled him to the second mural. "This one displays an island of some sort, but I can't find anything specific in the ancient runes." She motioned to the third one. "That one should interest you."

"Whoa." The last mural depicted a rough outline of a hedgehog with the seven smaller emeralds from the first mural surrounding the outline.

"The writing I can translate about it mentions the seven savors and the chaos. I am thinking that some chaotic event is going to take place and the hedgehogs were supposed to stop it."

Sonic placed his hand on the mural. "Do you think what happened to the hedgehogs is related to this?"

"It is just a legend."

Sonic clenched his fists and took a few deep breaths. "No!" He held out his right hand. Blue energy sparked around his arm and flowed to the open palm of his hand. The energy condensed and exploded in a bright flash of light. A blue emerald was now in his hand. "It's a lot more than a legend."


	4. Escape

Sally seemed to be memorized by the glowing blue emerald. "Where did you get that?"

"I've had it since I could remember. I was about ten when I figured out how to absorb it and make it reappear." Sonic looked back up to the mural. "Honestly never gave it much thought till now."

"Your one of the seven savors." She blinked a few times and managed to look away from the emerald. "I have to get you back to Mobotropolis."

"Where?"

"The capital of the Acorn Kingdom. You could be the solution to the problems we are having."

Sonic tightened his fist around the emerald and concentrated. The emerald transformed into blue energy and vanished into Sonic's arm. "How would I do that?"

She shrugged. "I'll admit I am not sure, but things are getting tense. The war has been over for nearly a decade, but the conflict is still continuing. Our outer settlements are constantly being raided, despite the best efforts to protect them. There has been rumors floating around that mobians are beginning to distrust the royal family ability to keep them safe. There has even been talk of a revolt."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I am only one hedgehog. A way cool hedgehog, but still only one."

"Mobians need something they can rally behind. The old legends haven't completely faded away."

"I would like to help, but I really need to find my uncle."

"Please, come with me to the city and I will do everything within my power to help you find your uncle."

"Well, it would be better than just wandering around. Alright!"

Sally tried to hug him, but stopped when she nearly cut herself on his quills. "Thank you." She picked up a satchel and threw it over her shoulder. "We better get going."

"About that, you wouldn't happen to know of a way out of here. I kind of fell in here and the only other tunnel I could find was blocked."

"It is still caved in?" Sally's good mood faded.

"Yeah. How did you end up down here anyway?"

"I came here to take record the murals and translate the writings. I heard a rumbling and the tunnel caved in. I had some food with me, so I decided to stay put until it was cleared." Sally ran her hand through her hair. "I got so caught up with my work. Did you see the others?"

"No! The camp was destroyed and the only one from your group I know of is Antione. He apparently ran from here to the village on the other side of the island after the camp was attacked."

"Is he alright?"

"He was exhausted, but otherwise fine. These animal shaped robots attacked me on my way over here. Strangest thing I have ever seen. Each had a small animal trapped inside them."

"What?"

"I don't get it either. When I got here, I was then attacked by some bald human who was smashing up the place with a wrecking ball."

"Could this by my fault? Did they come for me?" Sally stepped away from Sonic as she mumbled these questions. "But no one but my mother knew I was going to be here outside of the dig team." She turned back to Sonic. "You said he was smashing the place up."

Sonic nodded. "Even the camp was buried under rubble."

"We need to get back to the surface."

"I'm open to ideas."

"Take me to where you fell in."

* * *

Sally examined the chamber as Sonic went into more detail about the encounter that had happened when he arrived in the ruins and the attack on Knothole Village. She grimaced at parts, but managed a small smile when Sonic reported that the villagers were unharmed for the most part.

"I let myself get too wrapped up in the past. I should be focusing more on the people today."

"None of this is your fault."

"I know, but I should have realized something more was going on." She tossed a small stone into the lava. "So, were you exaggerating about how you maneuvered through this room?"

"I don't need to exaggerate, I am just that good."

"Would you be too weighed down if you carried me?"

Sonic flexed his arm and smirked.

"Then I have a plan that just might work. Back in the room you found me in are a few demolition charges we were using to clear rubble. There isn't enough to clear the tunnel, but I think we can use them on those pillars."

"Ok." Sonic seemed skeptical, but he ran back and retrieved the explosives. There were three in total, each about the size of a small book. "Now what?"

Sally took one and showed him how to set it. "Set these three on the base of those three pillars." She pointed to her chosen three. "It will set a chain reaction off, but if you can run and jump as fast as you claim, you should be able to run up the pillars as they fall and get close enough to jump clear."

"And if I don't."

"We fall into the lava or are trapped down here."

"No pressure." Sonic did a few stretches before running back up the tunnel. At least he would be able to get closer to top speed before trying the jump. He charged down the tunnel, launched himself over the lava, and landed on the first pillar. He slapped the charge on and leapt to a broken pillar. Without losing much momentum, he jumped to the second, placed the charge, and then to one of the platforms along the wall. He picked up more speed and jumped to the last one. He landed and set the charge. He jumped to a different platform and managed to repeat the feet that got him through the chamber the first time. He sat against the wall to catch his breath.

"You alright?"

"Hard to keep my speed up with such little ground beneath me."

"You sure about running up those pillars?"

"Sure. Lot more surface." Sonic jumped to his feet. "Ready?"

"Not really, but let's go."

Sonic picked Sally up bridal style and shifted his head so Sally could wrap her arms around his neck without hurting herself on his quills. "This is nice."

Sally sighed and activated the remote detonator.

"Hang on!" Sonic revved up and charged. The explosive on the first pillar went off and it began to fall like a cut tree. He jumped onto the falling pillar. He ran up the side of it as the second bomb went off. He changed course as he jumped from one pillar to the next. The pillar began to fall towards the third, the one that was standing above the hole. The last bomb went off as Sonic made the jump. He landed on the third pillar as it began to fall. He ran up the pillar and leapt with all of his might. He just cleared the hole and landed hard on the ground above. Sally separated from Sonic and the two laid on the ground, looking up at the sky. "See, no problem."

"Except the landing maybe."

Sonic chuckled. "Any landing you can walk away from."

Sally laughed. "True. Have you always been able to run that fast?"

"As long as I can remember. We lived on a small island, but I would run around it every day. Constantly pushing myself to go faster."

"Could your uncle run that fast?"

"Nah. He tried when I was younger, but gave up and just followed me in his biplane."

"I will help you find him."

"Thanks Sal." Sonic pushed himself up to a seating position when he heard her start to laugh. "Did I say something funny?"

"You didn't address me as Your Highness or Princess. You have no idea how long it's been when I was called by name alone." She sniffed the air. "Is something burning?"

Sonic looked around and saw a large plum of black smoke in the distance. The smoke seemed to moving closer at a fast pace. "We might have a problem."

A large silver hover pod flew out of the smoke. It looked similar to the one Sonic fought earlier, but this one was bulker with a large metal nozzle on the bottom. The nozzle was spitting out a large amount of fire onto the ground. The same human from before was flying it. "Oh good, you survived. Now I can roast you."

Sally jumped to her feet. "Who is that?"

"Someone with a lot of issues. I might need to carry you again."

"Beats being set on fire."

"Right." Sonic scooped her up as he took off.

"That's right, run you filthy mammals." Snively cackled as he increased the pod's speed. "When I was ordered to destroy this place, I didn't think I would have this much fun."

Sally had to close her eyes against the wind as Sonic sped up. "Did we lose him?"

"That thing is faster than it looks. He isn't catching up, but I'm not losing him either." Sonic tried maneuvering through the ruins, but the pod simply flew over them, continually dropping more fire.

"There is a pond near the western edge of the ruins. You can toss me into it."

"Seriously?"

"We aren't going to get anywhere like this. And despite your claims, I am slowing you down."

"It has nothing to do with your weight. Just an increase in wind resistance. So what is the plan?"

"Don't have one right now. He'll either keep chasing you and I can get help, or he will stop to get me and you can go get help."

"It's a better plan than I got." Sonic changed course and ran towards the pond. "Good Luck!"

Sally gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "You too."

Sonic ran past the pond and flung Sally into it as gently as he could. He increased speed and charged back into the ruins. Snively brought the pod to a stop, hovering over the pond. He pondered over what to do for a few moments. He chuckled and pulled a small lever on his control panel. The fire coming from the nozzle intensified and he directed it at the pond. Steam began to rise from the pond as the water began to bubble. Sally pulled herself out of the pond.

"Nice try. However, no one can outsmart Snively the Great. I will fry him as soon as I am done with you."

"Enjoying yourself?" A voice sounded from behind Snively.

"You bet I am."

"Like picking on those weaker than yourself."

"Best feeling in the world." Realization hit Snively and he slowly turned his head. Sonic was standing on the edge of the pod with a hand on the back of his pilot chair. "How?"

"Found a pillar leaning on its side and used it as a ramp. Neat trick I learned today."

Snively sneered. "Thanks for saving me the trouble of finding you." He grabbed a blaster pistol from underneath the seat and swung it up to fire it. Sonic's hand was quicker as he grabbed Snively's wrist. He slammed Snively's hand into the side of the pod as the blaster went off. The blaster bolt impacted one of the bulky add on to the pod. An orange liquid began to pour out of the hole.

Sonic gulped as sparks began to go off around the hole. "That looks bad."

"Oh no!" Snively's fingers began to press as many buttons as he could while Sonic jumped clear. The extra parts began to fall off the pod just as they exploded. The pod was sent spinning into the air from the force of the explosion as Sonic crashed into the ground. Snively managed to get the pod straightened out, but it wasn't flying very well. "We will meet again hedgehog!" The pod limped out of sight.

"Sonic!" Sally ran over to the fallen hedgehog.

"I'm ok." Sonic stood up, but then stumbled. "Mostly."

Sally caught him and kept him on his feet. "I got you. Let's see if we can salvage anything from the camp while you rest."

"I could use something to eat. Running close to empty."

"I'll try and cook something up. Plus I could use the fire to help dry out my fur and hair. I must look awful."

"You look pretty cute actually." Sonic said with a smirk, which caused Sally to blush. He yawned. "Not to be rude, but I could use a quick nap."

"Sure. It's been a long day."


	5. Complications

A delicious smell woke Sonic up. He was laying against a wall section near what was left of the camp. A make shift tent had been constructed from what was left the camp. Sally was sitting in front of a fire, cooking something in a frying pan. She noticed that Sonic had woken up.

"Sleep well?"

"As well as can be expected considering the surface." He stood up and stretched. "How long was I out?"

"About two hours. It took some digging, but I managed to find a food cooler that hadn't been destroyed. Hope you like hotdogs."

"Got any chili?"

"Sorry, but there was some ketchup in the cooler."

"Too bad." Sonic sat down next to her. "I love chilidogs."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Uncle Chuck would make supply runs every so often. He would make this big pot of chili and we would roast the hotdogs over a campfire."

"You must miss him a lot."

"I do. How about your family?"

"Not much to say really. I know my dad is the king and that is important job, but he is a complete workaholic and mom is always busy with some noble cause. My older brother is wrapped up in proving himself a worthy successor to the throne. I was raised primarily by Rosie, my nanny." She pulled the pan out of the fire. "Don't get the wrong idea; my family is very loving, just distracted."

"Sounds nice. So what is the plan?"

"The communication equipment was destroyed and so was the flight pod. So I am stuck here until I can get word back home or they get so worried they send someone to get me."

"Tomorrow I'll take you to Knothole Village. They have a radio and already called for assistance after the attack last night. Plus I am sure Antoine is worried about you."

"I just wish I had some answers for what happened here. Why was that guy smashing the ruins up with a wrecking ball and where are the mobians I was working with? If I wasn't the target, then what was?"

"I wish I had some answers, but I am probably the least clued in person on the island."

"Not by much." Sally looked up at the setting sun. "Let's eat and worry about the questions in the morning."

* * *

On a small stretch of land that could barely be called a tiny island, Raza's troops sat, unsure of what to do next. She had lost one ship and all but three of her men had been injured severally enough to keep them out of action for a few weeks. Valuable equipment had been damaged or destroyed and there was nothing to show for it. No cargo or loot to sell. That hedgehog had ruined everything. Raza sat in front of the small communication console, putting off calling her employers and telling them that she had failed. She analyzed her reflection on the blank view screen. She had fought in the war against the mobians and had been more than a little angry that a peace agreement had been drawn up. Therefore, she opted to do private sector work. Years of war had hardened her features. She ran her hand over her baldhead that she had kept shaved for as long as she could remember. For years, she had always had a plan or course of action. She wanted payback, but lacked what she needed to get it.

A button on console began to flash as a set of numbers appeared on the screen. She sat up and pressed the button. "Captain Raza."

A human with a long nose and sparse hair appeared on the screen. "Raza, so glad you're still in the area."

"What do you want Snively? I am not in the mood to put up with you right now."

"Things at the village go that badly?"

"How did you know that?"

"You forget, I have access to your mission recorders. But don't worry; I have an offer that can help the both of us."

"I'm listening."

"I too was troubled by a blue hedgehog that could move at remarkable speeds. No doubt the same one that caused you trouble. I have no lack of equipment, but I am going to need more than mindless machines."

"Most of my men are out of action."

"Just you should suffice. Help me catch this rodent and not only will I pay you a substantial amount, I will also help you in rounding up ever last animal in that village." Snively smiled. "So do we have a deal?"

"Yes."

* * *

 **Next Morning**

Sally hung on tight as Sonic ran out of the ruins. He kept his speed down enough so that wind didn't force her to keep her eyes closed. He stopped when he reached the wreckage of the robots he had destroyed the previous day. "These are the machines that attacked me on the way to the ruins."

"The ones with the animals inside"

"Right." Sonic set her down so she could examine the pieces.

"Strange." Sally held up one of the sphere halves. "This appears to be some kind of battery case." She ran her hand along the inside of it. "There are energy absorbers built into the sides. They are similar to the devices we use to draw energy from gold rings." She put the sphere half into her satchel. "I'm going to show this to some of our experts. Maybe they can come up with some answers."

"Hope so, because my head still hurts from trying to figure it out."

"You're not alone."

* * *

Sonic and Sally arrived in Knothole around noon. A small roughly rectangular shaped shuttle was sitting near Brookshire's house. It had the image of a red acorn with white wings on the sides of it, painted on the front of the shuttle. Sally identified it as the symbol of the Kingdom of Acorn's Airforce. A pair of guards, both beavers stood next the shuttle. Upon seeing Sonic stop near the house with Sally in his arms, they ran up and aimed their blaster rifles at him.

"Unhand the princess!"

Sonic set Sally down and held his hands up.

"Stand down!" Sally's voice had gained a razor edge that prompted the guards to obey. Despite her appearance, everyone could feel her royal authority. "This hedgehog saved this village and my life, so I expect you both to treat him with respect."

"Yes your highness." Both guards spoke in unison.

"What are you doing here?"

One of the guards stepped forward and saluted. "We received a distress call from this village yesterday and were told to divert from our patrol route. When we arrived, Squire D'Coolette informed us of what happed at your dig site. Commander Foley told us to remain here while he and the rest of our patrol group went to go and find you."

"When did you arrive?"

"This morning."

"Must have just missed them. Radio them and let them know I am here. A lot has happened over the past day."

"Ma'am!" Both guards bowed and ran to their shuttle.

Sally sighed. "This isn't going to end well."

"How so?"

"My father didn't know I was at the site. He would prefer that I keep my hobbies confined to the royal library. Mother covered for me, which will make him even angrier. But that isn't the worst of it. Everyone else have vanished, no doubt abducted in a similar fashion that the villagers were going to be. The political fallout when this gets out will be major. And I have no answers for the families of those who are missing."

"It wasn't your fault. Snively didn't seem to know who you are. I hate to put it this way, but you only escaped because you got trapped in that chamber."

"That doesn't change anything. I will be blamed for this and that is all most people will focus on."

"Starting to miss my little island."

"SONIC!" Tails appeared from behind his house and nearly tackled the hedgehog down when he jumped in for a hug. The little two tailed fox was covered in grease.

"Hey." Sonic patted him on the head. "What happened to you?"

"They let me help fix your plane. It just needs to recharge and it will be ready to fly."

Sally's grim face turned into a smile. "Who is this?" She knelled down so she was at the fox's eye level.

"Miles Prower." Tails smirked. "But Sonic gave me the much cooler name, Tails."

"It certainly is." She looked up at Sonic. "You have a plane?"

"It's my Uncle's biplane. He converted it to run on solar or ring energy." Sonic chuckled. "I kind of crashed it when I forgot to recharge it."

Sally laughed and looked back at Tails. "You helped fix it?"

"Yep." Tails puffed out his chest. "It was easy with Nicole helping me?"

"Nicole?"

"It's the computer in Sonic's plane. She is really smart and told me some funny storied about Sonic."

"Really?" Sally stood up. "We have some time before the rest of the patrol returns. I would love to see the plane."

"Can she see it Sonic?"

Sonic nodded. "Sure, but tell Nicole to ease up on the stories. I have a few funny ones about her I could share."

"This way!" Tails quickly led Sally to the plane.

The hedgehog glanced at the shuttle. "What have I gotten myself in to Uncle?"

* * *

It took a little over an hour for the other two shuttles from the patrol group to arrive back at the village. Sally had spent a lot of that time talking with Nicole. Sonic figured he had found the only two people on the planet who enjoyed listening to Nicole explain how she worked. It wasn't like he didn't care for the AI, she was as much family to him as his Uncle, she just tended to drone on and on. Sally also listened to Tails as he explained how he and the others had fixed the plane. The young fox was bursting with joy with all the attention he was receiving. Sally seemed happy as well, but her mood dimed when she saw the two shuttles fly over and land near the third one. She thanked Tails and Nicole and walked over to meet the ones coming out of the shuttles.

"Hey Sonic. What is wrong with Sally?"

Sonic sighed. "She has to return home."

"She doesn't want to go home?"

"It complicated." Sonic sighed and leaned against the plane. "Really complicated."

Tails climbed out of the pilot seat and sat on the wing. "Are you leaving too?"

"Wish I could stay, but I need to find my Uncle and Sally said she could help." Sonic managed a small smile. "But I'll be back."

"Really?"

"Of course. Got to visit my new best bud."

"Who."

Nicole sounded from the controls. "I believe he was talking about you, Tails."

That got a big grin out of the fox.

* * *

Not wanting to waste any time, Commander Foley opted to start the journey back to the capital that night. Each of the three shuttles carried one pilot and two ground troopers not counting himself. All the ground troopers and one of the shuttles would remain to help protect the village until a more permanent detachment could be established. When they had reached one of the outlaying air bases, he could beef up the security before heading to the capital. Sally and Antione would ride in his shuttle. Sonic opted to follow the shuttles in his biplane. They traveled in a line formation, with the commander's shuttle in-between the second shuttle and Sonic's plane taking up the rear.

Commander Foley was large, even for a brown bear. He despised leaving his the comfort of his office to come on patrol flights and avoided them as often as he could. When the distress call came in, he thought it would be a good bump to his career if he made an appearance. Drop in, reassure the locals, and get a good mention on his report for when the next round of promotions came around. However, he couldn't have been more pleased when he found out the princess was also on the island. Bringing her back to the royal palace almost assured him a general rank. His career was looking bright. He put on his most polite smile when he addressed Sally.

"Your Majesty, we should arrive at Airbase Jango by tomorrow afternoon. There I can put together a proper escort to take you home."

"That's fine." Sally kept her eyes looking out one of the small windows.

"I am sure the king and queen will be very happy to see that you are unharmed." When Sally didn't answer, Foley turned to Antione who was sitting next to her. "And I am certain you will get some sort of medal for your own heroics."

"But of course." Antione sat up. "I fought off the machines when they attacked our camp, but when it was clear they would overwhelm us, I knew the only choice was to find help as soon as I could."

"Very good. It is important to know when to fight and when to go find help. You will make a great knight when you come of age."

"Thank you very much."

"I just hope you remember my name when you make your report."

"But of course." The two started to laugh.

Sally sighed as she tried to tune them out. She recognized Foley as a self-serving mobian the moment she saw him. Antione had a good heart, but a fragile ego. Her mother had forced her to bring him along so there was at least one member of the Royal Knights, even if he was only a squire. In addition, her mother was hoping that Sally would start to develop some feelings toward Antione. He was the son of General D'Coolette, one of the heroes of the war and considered a good match for her. A flash of light snapped her out of her thoughts. Before she could try to figure out the source, the entire shuttle shook as an explosion went off.

Foley hit the intercom button with his fist. "What is going on?"

"The forward shuttle was shot down." There was panic in the pilot's voice. "It appears to be several enemy contacts, but they are not showing up on the radar."

"Forget the radar and get us out of here."

"Trying sir."

Sally looked back out the window. "Sonic."

* * *

Sonic didn't see the attackers, but he heard them just before they struck. It was the exact same buzzing noise the robotic wasps had made. Before they started to fire, Sonic pulled his plane out of formation to try to find the source of the sound. That had saved him. A swarm of ten of the robots flew in from behind and in front of the formation. Laser fire hit the air Sonic had occupied. Sadly, the shuttle in the front was hit hard and began to fall, covered in flames. Sally's shuttle began to do some evasive maneuvers, which forced the forward swarm to break up and attack individually. Laser cannons mounted on the front of the shuttle started to fire, but the wasps were small and hard to hit. Sonic wished his plane had some sort of armament.

"Nicole, take over."

"Please don't do what I think you are going to do."

Sonic undid his flight straps and stood up in the pilot seat. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just going to knock out some of those things." He climbed onto the top wing and made the mistake of looking over the side of the plane. It was a considerable distance to the water below. "Shouldn't have been so resistant when Uncle Chuck wanted to teach me how to swim."

Blue energy began to spark around his body as the swarm that tried to attack him began to fly closer. He jumped from the plane and curled into a ball. The glowing intensified as he spun in midair. Sonic suddenly shot forward and smashed into one of the wasps. He bounced clear as the robot exploded and crashed into another one. He repeated this move until all ten of the wasps were destroyed. He had hoped his momentum would have been enough to reach the shuttle, but it banked right and he missed it by a few feet.

"Not cool!" Sonic started to fall. As he braced for the impact against the cold ocean water, his plane appeared below him and landed on its upper wing. "Nice flying Nicole."

"I promised father I would take care of you if anything should happen to him."

"I appreciate it." Sonic groaned and pulled himself to his feet. He could see the remaining wasps converging on the shuttle. Three of the machines had been shot down and the shuttle had managed to avoid talking excessive damage, but it was clear that it couldn't take to many more hits. "Get us closer so I can take out the remaining ones."

"Be careful Sonic. That move of yours is taxing on your body."

Sonic couldn't deny that he felt a little winded. He could run all day, but summoning the energy to bounce around like that was draining. "No choice. Just try to catch me again when I'm done."

* * *

The shuttle violently shuddered as one of its engines was hit by blaster fire. A side panel inside the passenger area exploded and spat out flames. Foley rolled clear as the arm of his uniform caught fire. Antione fumbled with the fire extinguisher as Sally hunted for the parachutes. Another explosion rocked the shuttle and it began to fall. Foley took the extinguisher from Antione and put the fire out on his arm. He rushed to the door to the cockpit. It wouldn't slide open on its own, but he managed to force it open. Most of the cockpit was missing and there was no sign of the pilot. He turned back to the two teens. Sally had managed to find only one parachute. Foley mentally kicked himself for skipping the supply inspections. He sighed knowing what he had to do. Foley helped Antione into the parachute and rigged a partner harness.

"You're responsible for the safety of the princess."

Antione saluted. "No harm shall come to her."

"We are not leaving you."

Foley helped Sally into the partner harness. "All that matters is your safety." He opened up the back hatch. "At least recommend me for a promotion posthumously." He shoved the pair out of the shuttle.

Antione pulled the ripcord when they had fallen clear of the shuttle. The wasps continued their assault and the shuttle exploded in a ball of fire. Neither had time to grieve as the swarm of wasps turned towards them.

"Not to worry you my Princess, but we are going to have company."

"You wouldn't happen to have a weapon on you." All Antione could do to answer was shake his head. "Then we will have to separate from the chute and take our chances with the water."

"Really?" Antione gripped the release. "The water is so far below us. We could hurt ourselves on impact."

"I doubt it will hurt more than getting hit by the lasers."

"Right." As Antione started to pull on the release, a glowing blue ball smashed into one of the wasps and bounced around to smash the remaining ones. The ball stopped glowing and uncurled to reveal Sonic. He waved as he fell. His plane swooped past and he landed on it. "He saved us." Antione cheered, but in his enthusiasm, he pulled the release and he and Sally were separated from the chute. "Whoopsie." The two didn't fall very far, they landed on the upper wing of Sonic's biplane.

"You two alright?" Sonic was back in the pilot seat.

Sally looked over the side of the wing. "Can't complain." She pointed at something behind the plane. "Look out!"

Before Sonic could look, the tail of the plane was obliterated by energy blast. The source of the blast was a half sphere pod driven by Snively. "Enjoy the landing, hedgehog."


	6. Lost

Sonic grumbled as woke up. He was torn between not moving to avoid aggravating the headache he had, or trying to find a place to dry off and get the taste of seawater and sand out of his mouth. With an even louder grumble, Sonic managed to roll himself over onto his back. He quickly regretted the move since the sun seemed determined to blind him. Despite the soreness in his body, he sat up to try to figure out where he was. It was a typical beach with the ocean in front of him and a jungle behind him. His pants were tore up, but still wearable. His sneakers and gloves did not look any worse than usual. Other than being extremely sore and a headache, he seemed all right from the crash.

"Got to find the others." Sonic stood up and took a few quick breaths. His body vibrated at high speeds for a second. All the water clinging to his fur and quills flew off him. He spotted a piece of metal that came from one of the wings of his plane. "Nicole!" Sonic ran to the ocean and tried to spot more wreckage from his plane. He could see bits of metal along the shore and a few pieces under the water. "So much for drying off."

Sonic took a deep breath and dove into the water. Not letting his inability to swim deter him. He grabbed onto rocks and plant life to pull himself along the bottom. He remembered holding on to the plane tightly as he hit the water and hoped it wasn't too far from the shore. His eyesight had been improved from years of withstanding the forces he kicked up when running. Luck appeared to be with him as he saw what was left of the main body of the plane; sadly, it was several feet away from him and considerably deeper. He wasn't going to be able to hold his breath long enough to reach it, let alone see if Nicole's systems were still intact. Sonic pulled himself back to the shore. He sat down and stared at the water. He owed Nicole a rescue, but needed to figure out a way to do it and not drown. If the small storage compartment was still intact, he could find a small self-inflating water ring. He just needed to make it down there and still have air left. Granted if the water ring was gone, he would not be able to make it back to land in time.

"What is life without a few risks?"

Sonic jumped to his feet and ran to the jungle. It didn't take him long to find a piece of wood that would float with him holding on to it. He kicked himself so that he floated over the spot where the plane rested. After taking several breaths, he took one deep one and let go of the wood. He curled into a ball and sank into the water. He dropped quickly and reached the plane in only a few seconds. The damage was considerably worse than he originally saw. The tail of the plane was completely gone and the wings were in several pieces. He pulled himself to the storage compartment and struggled to get it open. He felt a pressure on his chest as his vision began to blur. The door finally opened and a large bubble of air escaped from it. Acting quickly, he expelled the used air from his lungs and shoved his mouth into the bubble. Inhaling quickly, he managed to fill his lungs before the bubble popped. He grabbed the survival bag from the compartment. Sonic moved to the plane's controls. The light that flashed when Nicole spoke was dark. Remembering what his uncle had told him, Sonic removed the fist-sized black box that housed Nicole and the sealed bag that held the portable computer he could download her to. He removed the water ring from the survival bad and flung the bag over his shoulder. Gripping the black box, he pulled the cord on the ring and it quickly inflated. Sonic felt like his lungs were about to explode when the ring pulled him up and his head cleared the water.

"Well that was fun."

Sonic let the waves push him back to shore so he could catch his breath. When he got back to the beach, he walked to the edge of the jungle and dropped the survival bag. He sat down and checked the black box. He had no idea exactly how Nicole worked, but when he opened the sealed top of the box, he could see some lights from working components that gave him hope. The portable computer flipped open to a size roughly twice the size of his hand. A screen dominated the top half and the bottom had touch sensitive buttons. Sonic switch the computer on and thankfully, it appeared to be undamaged and had a full charge.

"Here goes nothing."

He pulled out the cord that would transfer Nicole from the black box and connected it to the computer. He set it down and did the only thing he could do now, wait to see if Nicole was all right after the transfer.

* * *

The smell of cooking fish awoke Sally from her sleep. Her head throbbed as she tried to remember what had happened. She remembered hitting the water, but not much after that. Opening her eyes, Sally was surprised to see a wooden roof over her head. She was laying on what felt like canvas and as far as she could tell, she was dry. Sally sat up and found she was in a hut that had been constructed of tree trunks and bits of scrap metal. Her boots and jacket sat on a chair that looked like it was made of cast off vehicle parts. She was still wearing her khaki shorts and tee shirt. Feeling relatively all right, Sally slipped her boots on and headed for the exit. No door, just an opening led the chipmunk to a large wooden deck. She was shocked to find that the hut sat in the middle of a large junk yard. Much of it she recognized as scrap from vehicles and other devices that mobians on the main island used, also various other bits she didn't recognize. Near the edge of the deck, a cooking pit made of stone had been set up. A fire was roaring in the pit, underneath a metal grill that had a few fishes cooking on it. A purple walrus was sitting next to the fire. He was dressed in a yellow jumpsuit and a yellow cap sat backwards on his head. Sally was surprised to see one here considering that mobian walruses herds chose to live outside of the mobian area, near the southern poll of the planet.

"Hello?"

The walrus seemed startled by her voice and nearly fell over. "Oh, you're awake." His voice was a lot softer than his large frame would have suggested.

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me."

"No problem. I was out gathering fish when I spotted you floating near the island. You were clinging to a piece of an airplane's wing."

"You didn't happen to find anyone else."

"No, just you. I looked for any other wreckage, but didn't find any. You must have floated away from the crash site. Count yourself lucky you weren't dragged out into the ocean. Were there others with you?"

"Yes. A coyote and a hedgehog. We were attacked while traveling to Mobotropolis."

"Wow! Any idea who attacked you?"

"Not a clue." Sally sat down on the deck near the walrus. "Sorry, you rescued me and I didn't even ask you your name."

"My name is Rotor." He flipped the fish over. "Your probably wondering why I am here."

"Kind of."

"I wound up here kind of like you did. My herd was attacked and I was separated from my family. I drifted for some time before finding this place. I wanted to build a boat using some of this scrap, but don't have the proper tools to make one that could last until I reached the arctic."

"Sorry to hear about that." Sally looked around at the scrapyard. "Where did all this stuff come from?"

Rotor shrugged. "A large automated hover barge dumps this stuff every few days. After that a few strange robots appear, pull several pieces out of what was dumped, and carry it off."

"Strange robots?"

"They were large robotic crabs with a few robotic wasps flying around them. I try to give them a wide birth."

"We were attacked by a swarm of robotic wasps. Can you show me where they come from?"

"I never followed them, but we are do for another barge soon."

"Thanks. I have got to find out where those things came from."

* * *

Antoine had woken up on a beach, with a piece of wing still clutched in his hands. After wandering around the beach until the sun got unbearable, he started to walk through the jungle. All the while calling out for Sally. He tripped over a fallen tree and fell down a small hill. He mumbled some curses as he got back to his feet. He nearly fell back down. A metal crab that was taller than him was glaring at him with cold robotic eyes.

"He….l…lo. So…sssssorry. I w…illlll just be on mmmmy way."

The crab's claws opened and began to move towards him. Antoine took off in a panic run while screaming. He ran until he stepped into a snare and it quickly pulled him off his feet and he dangled a few feet above the ground. The crab tore through the jungle and stopped in front of the coyote. Before Antoine could begin to beg, he was suddenly spun around so he faced a human woman dressed head to toe in red armor.

"Oh please miss, I am so sorry I have trespassed. Please don't let the metal crab eat me."

"Shut up."

"Oh, yes shutting up."

The woman shoved the barrel of her rifle into Antoine's gut. "Your just lucky live bait works better than dead."

Antoine gulped and started to hiccup.

* * *

Sonic ignored the rumble in his stomach as he waited for the transfer to be finished. He was unsure why it was taking so long, but refused to move until it was finished. The portable computer beeped as the lights inside the black box went dark. The screen on the computer glowed a soft blue.

"Nicole?"

"I am here Sonic. Sorry about the wait, but I never had to completely download myself into the portable unit before. I had to compact several of my memory files to insure I had enough memory to function at full capacity. I suggest you keep the computer in low power mode until you secure a place to recharge."

"Sure." Sonic closed the computer and clipped it to his belt. "Now we have to figure out if the others are here as well." His stomach growled. "And find something to eat."

"If you managed to salvage the survival pack from the plane, it contains some water purification tablets and powdered meals. Not the most tasteful of meals, but it should keep you going for a few days."

"Joy." Sonic flung the pack over his shoulder. "I'll find us a place to rest for the night and we can go looking for the others tomorrow. I just hope they are alright."


	7. Battle in the Jungle

Rotor led Sally to the edge of the scrapyard. He explained that the hover barge never piled the junk it dropped in the same place twice. Sally could see broken trees that had been snapped from falling scrap. "So how long until the next one?"

The walrus pulled off his backpack and pulled out a small device from it. "If it keeps to its regular schedule, a couple of hours. The robots typically come from the jungle so we should hide in the scrapyard."

"Alright. I just hope I can get some answers."

* * *

Sonic groaned and rolled onto his stomach. He had found a small cave near the beach to rest in. The survival pack didn't have a sleeping bag and the leaves he had gathered to form a bed had done little to make the stone more comfortable. The small campfire had burned out next to the small water spring he had found. A quick glance at the entrance told him that it was morning.

"Nicole?" He sat up when he did not get a response. He had set his belt on a small rock and the portable computer was still clipped to it. He picked the belt up and saw the small flashing green light on the computer. "Right! Low power mode."

Nicole's portable computer only had a few days of use at full power, but it could last several weeks as long as power usage was minimum. He was on his own for now. With a small sigh, he filled a metal cup with water and dropped one of the purification tablets into it. After another one of those "tasty" powdered meals, he would try to find the others.

* * *

The hover barge was on time as it flew over the scrapyard. It was essentially a large box with four large engines mounted to the sides of it. It bore no identification marks, but Sally recognized it as one of the barges used on the main island. The engines were nearly twice the size of the ones she had seen. As Rotor had said, it flew over an area that was relatively free of scrap. The bottom doors slowly opened and a large amount of scrap fell from it. None of it appeared to be garbage, just metal and bits of technology. When it was empty, the doors closed and the barge turned around to fly back wherever it had come from. Sally used a few bits of metal to mark the direction the barge flew. After a few moments, the pair could hear the sound of metal scraping against metal coming from the jungle. Several robotic crabs scuttled out of the jungle with a few robotic wasps flying over them. They went right for the pile of new scrap and began to dig through it. Each crab pulled out a large black box that looked brand new. Apparently satisfied with their finds, they moved back into the jungle.

"Let's go!" Sally jumped up and started to follow.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Rotor was hesitant.

"Not really. You have done enough for me; I can take it from here."

"No, I'll be fine. It would be wrong to let you go on by yourself."

They followed the robots for several minutes until they reached the opening of a tunnel that appeared to slope down. The wasps flew into the trees near the tunnel as the crabs went in. The wasps attached themselves to the trunks of the trees and seemed to go to sleep. Sally and Rotor waited for a few moments until the last of the crabs had entered the tunnel before approaching it. The wasps didn't seem to notice them. The tunnel wasn't very long and opened into a fairly large cave with a small harbor that led out to the ocean. The crabs were loading the boxes onto a boat that was lashed to a metal dock in the harbor.

Sally and Rotor hid behind a rock formation and watched the robots load the boxes. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the cavern or on the boat. Sally looked for a way to sneak aboard the boat, but there wasn't enough cover. "Need to find out what is in those boxes."

Rotor pointed towards the water. "Good thing I am a walrus."

Many of the rocks were wet, so with a short run, he flopped onto his stomach and quickly slid across them into the water. The crabs stopped at the sound of the splash and looked around the area. The pause lasted a moment before the robots returned to work. Rotor pulled himself onto the boat on the side opposite of the one the crabs were loading at. The boxes on the boat ranged in sizes. Some as small as a shoebox and others almost as big as him. He opted to grab one that he could carry under his arm and quietly went back into the water. He swam to the edge he had originally entered the water from and pushed the box out of the water. Sally grabbed it and pulled it behind the rock formation. When it was clear, Rotor pulled himself out of the water and joined her.

"What is in it?"

"Not sure." Sally ran her fingers over the box. It was made of a simple metal, possibly steel. Square in shape with the opening seal running around the middle of the box. Her fingers hit a small button above the seal. The seal hissed and released. Sally pulled the top half off and set it aside. Inside the box was a series of large industrial screws and bolts.

"Huh!" Rotor picked up one of the bolts. "Other than being slightly warm, I don't see anything special about these things."

"I do!" Sally took the item from Rotor. "These have been infused with gold rings. Making them a lot stronger and more durable than their non-enhanced counterparts. Only certain Mobians have the talent needed to infuse gold rings into objects."

Rotor glanced back towards the boat. "I guess it is a safe bet that the rest of the boxes have similar items inside them."

"Someone is smuggling ring enhanced items from the kingdom. This is the only advantage we have against the humans." She set the bolt back into the box and shut it. "I just wish someone was here to question."

"Maybe that is why there are only robots here. So there is no one to catch."

Sally nodded. "I need to find out where that boat is going."

"Are you sure? There are not a lot of places to hide on that boat. Its flat save for the motor housing."

"Maybe we can empty one of the larger boxes for me to hide in."

A loud clicking sound issued from behind them. One of the robotic crabs had walked to the rock formation. Sally and Rotor jumped away as it reached for them with its large pincers. While they braced for it to attack, the crab simply picked up the box and moved back towards the boat.

Rotor gulped. "Not to tempt fate, but why didn't it attack us."

"Must be programed only to deal with the boxes." Sally slowly stepped into full view of the robots. They ignored her as they loaded the last of the boxes. Once they were done, they scuttled to the end of the cave and like the wasps outside, seemingly went to sleep. Sally signaled to Rotor as she started to move towards the boat. Both froze in place when a bowl shaped object flew into the cave by way of the ocean entrance. Sally recognized the object and the nearly bald human flying it.

Snively chuckled. "Well, well, well. And here I was worried I would have a hard time finding you." He didn't seem to have noticed Rotor, so Sally made sure to keep her eyes locked on Snively. "And I suppose I should apologize for not knowing who you were the first time we met."

"I am sure."

"Oh I truly am sorry. It isn't every day one gets the chance to abduct the royal princess. I am sure the king will give anything for your safe return."

Sally motioned towards the boat. "What else do you plan to steal from my kingdom?"

"Oh dear." Snively flipped a small switch on the controls and two small laser cannons slid out from the hover pod. "You peaked. I guess your corpse will get me something."

"Hey!" Rotor jumped into view and heaved a large rock. It smacked Snively in the head and jerked the control wheel. The pod swerved and the laser cannons shot the boat. It started to sink as Sally and Rotor ran out of the cave. "Filthy animals." Snively pulled a small remote from his pocket after he regained control of the pod. He pressed a few buttons on the remote and the eyes on the robotic crabs flashed red. They got to their feet and started to chase the fleeing Mobians.

* * *

Sonic stopped running through the jungle as a hover barge flew overhead. It was clear it was flying out to sea, which gave the hedgehog two choices. Try to get aboard the barge or continue to look for the others. A loud scream issued from the jungle. Sonic shrugged, "Option three!" Sonic dashed towards the direction of the scream.

* * *

Raza stood next to the bound Antoine as she waited. She had spent over an hour preparing the area for the hedgehog. She had cleared out several of the trees save for the one Antoine was tied to. A dozen of the crab robots that Snively had provided had burrowed under the ground, ready to spring up at her command. Six wasp robots hid in the trees that circled the cleared area. Finally, she had the new rifle also provided by the bald one. Eight plasma cannon barrels that rotated when fired. Solving the half second delay issue the single barrel versions had, it would allow Raza to unleash a near endless stream of plasma fire. She jabbed the coyote with the butt of her cannon.

"Again!"

"I am so sorry?" Antione gasped. "I could use a drink. My throat is so parched."

Raza grumbled and unhooked a canteen from her belt. She unscrewed the cap and dumped the water on Antione's head. "Again!"

Antione took a deep breath and let out another scream.

"Hey Ant." Sonic appeared at the edge of the clearing. "No offense, you kind of scream like a little girl." Sonic waved at Raza. "Didn't learn from the last time?"

"Oh I learned."

Raza swung the cannon around and aimed it at the hedgehog. She pulled the trigger and opened fire. Sonic ducked low and ran around the edge of the clearing as the plasma bolts followed close behind him. The bolts ripped through the jungle trees as it followed close behind the running hedgehog. The robotic wasps took flight as the trees they had been hiding in fell due to plasma fire. They quickly gave chase, firing laser blasts from their stingers. Sonic sparkled with blue energy as he ran up the side of a tree. He launched himself off the tree and curled into a ball. He smashed through two of the wasps as flew in an arch. As seemingly bounced off the second wasp he destroyed and slammed into a third before landing in the clear just a few feet from Raza. Before he could make another move, four robotic crabs burst from the ground and each grabbed one of his limbs with their pincers and held him up.

Raza chuckled as she walked up to the captured hedgehog. "It takes more than speed to win a fight." Swinging the cannon so that is hung at her side, she pulled out a set of steel shackles from her belt. "It also takes skill and cunning, thinks you lack. Now you have two choices. I can take you to my employer in shackles or I can break your legs and drag you to my employer."

"How about you just let me go and we call it even?"

An evil smile appeared on Raza's face as she dropped the shackles. "Drag you it is."

Before she could touch him, a purple ball seemed to fly out of the jungle and slammed into one of the crabs that was holding the hedgehog's feet. The crab crashed into the one holding the other leg, and both lost their grip. Sonic planted his feet on the ground and began to run in place. He began to spin around, using the crabs still holding onto his arms as flails. Raza was knocked down as one of the crabs crashed into her. The last crab flew free of the hedgehog as he spun and smashed into one of the three remaining wasps. The purple ball turned out to be a walrus with a yellow cap on his head.

Sonic stopped spinning and gave the walrus a thumbs up. "Thanks."

"Don't thank me yet."

"Sonic!" Sally ran out of the jungle. "We are being chased by more of those robotic crabs."

"Stupid animals!" Raza kicked off the crab that had fallen on her and scrambled to her feet. Hitting a button on her armored gauntlet, the remaining crabs buried underground rose up. "I don't care if he wants you alive. I'll skin you all now."

A loud metal on metal sound issued from behind the Mobians and they dove clear as the robotic crabs that had been chasing Sally and Rotor emerged from the jungle and crashed into the ones in the clearing. Raza shouted to try and get the machines organized while the trio made their way to Antoine. Rotor produced a small knife and cut the coyote's bindings. Sally caught him before he fell.

"Antoine?"

"Good to see you are well my princess." Antoine's throat was very dry. "You wouldn't happen to have a drink?"

"After we get somewhere safe."

Several laser blasts hit the ground around them as Raza's two remaining wasps were joined by the swarm that had joined the crabs chasing Sally and Rotor. Sonic's quills began to vibrate. "You three take off, I'll slow them down."

"You can't take them all yourself."

Rotor grabbed Sally's arm. "We need to get to my scrapyard." Reluctantly, Sally helped Antoine as they followed Rotor.

Raza ordered the robots to wait as she stepped forward and readied her cannon. "Don't mistake stupidity for confidence. You're not fast enough to avoid all of this."

Sonic simply smirked and once again, sparkled with blue energy. He appeared to move, but suddenly split into dozens of semi-transparent versions of himself and surrounded Raza and her robots. None of them appeared to be the real one. The robots kept turning around and around, confused on which one to target. The crabs began to crash into each other while the wasps began firing randomly.

"Damn you." Raza let loose a barrage of plasma bolts and swung the cannon in wide arches. The bolts simply passed through the hedgehogs she managed to hit, and she accidently hit a several of the robot crabs.

A solid hedgehog broke from the semi-transparent ones and connected a solid uppercut to Raza's head. The impact was enough to crack her helmet's face plate. Raza staggered back as Sonic managed to pull her cannon free from Raza's grasp. "If you can't play nicely, I will have just have to take your toys." He stumbled a bit as he adjusted his grip so he could better hold the heavy weapon. "Catch you later." He disappeared into the jungle as his copies vanished.

Raza threw her helmet off and yelled so loud that the remaining robots stopped moving. "I hate that hedgehog!"


	8. Scrapyard Rumble

Sonic reached the others as they neared the edge of the scrapyard. "The angry lady and the robots are right behind me."

Rotor pointed to his hut near the center of the scrapyard. "I set up a couple of traps just in case the robots tried to come for me."

"Cool!" Sonic held up the plasma cannon he had taken from Raza. "You look strong enough to use this thing."

The walrus took the weapon and slipped the shoulder strap over his head. The long nails on his hands made is difficult to wrap his hand around the handle and trigger, but he managed. "Never fired a gun before, but this thing doesn't look like it depends too much on aiming. Let's go!"

The four Mobians ran for the hut and reached it as Raza and her remaining robots ran out of the jungle. Raza pulled a large laser pistol from her belt as she stopped at the edge of the scrapyard. She knelt down to aim as she yelled for the machines to continue pursuit.

A laser bolt flew close enough to Sally's head to singe a few of her red hairs. "What is the plan?"

"Just inside the doorway is a large lever. Pull it and it will activate the traps I set up. I'll see if I can shoot down those wasps."

"Mister Rotor, sir." Antione gasped. "Do you by chance have any water in your home?"

"There is an old gas container in the back that should be full." Rotor climbed onto the wooden deck that was around his hut and kicked over a small table he had made out of scrap to stand behind.

Sonic ran around the hut to try and flank the machines as the approached it. Sally helped Antione into the hut and found the lever. Letting go of Antione, she gripped it and pulled it. She could hear a series of pullies and gears turning under the hut. "I hope this enough."

* * *

Outside, the crabs easily climbed over the piles of junk as the approached the hut. One stepped onto a large flat piece of metal. As soon as its full weight was on it, a massive spring underneath it was set off and launched the crab skyward. It landed on several metal poles that had been stuck upright in the ground and sharped into points. Two other crabs fell victim to similar spring traps. The wasps flew over the yard and fired at the hut. Rotor ducked down to avoid the first assault. He stood and open fire with the cannon. He had to tighten his grip as he nearly fell over from the vibrations the rotating barrels produced. He managed to destroy two of the wasps before the robots got wise and started to avoid his fire.

* * *

Sonic managed to find of Rotor's spring traps on the opposite side from which the assault was happening. Sliding under it and pulling on one of the sides to angle it so it would launch him over the hut. Sonic jumped on top of it and had to jump a few times to trigger the spring. He curled into a ball as he soared over the hut. With a flash of blue light, he crashed into a wasp and bounced between three others like a pinball, destroying each one. As Sonic dropped back towards the ground, he was shocked to see a crab waiting for him. "That ain't good."

Issuing a war cry, Sally ran from the hut, wielding a large chunk of metal as a club. The robotic crab was so focused on catching the falling hedgehog, it failed to notice the chipmunk. She smashed the chunk of metal on top of the crab, crushing its body under repeated blows. Sonic landed on the ground near her and waited a few seconds for Sally to stop beating on the now nonfunctioning machine. "Remind me not to make you angry."

"Just tired of these things making me feel helpless."

A laser bolt struck Sonic in the right shoulder and caused the hedgehog to drop to the ground. Sally grabbed his leg and drug him behind the remains of the robotic crab as more shots flew past. "Sonic!" The fur on his shoulder was singed and smoked a bit, but Sally couldn't see any more damage. "How is it?"

"Hurts more than anything. I'm just lucky that the energy from my Chaos Emerald makes me a bit tougher than most." He flexed the fingers on his right hand and tried to move his arm. The fingers seemed fine, but he winced considerably as he moved the arm. "Ok, no high fives for a while."

Sally stuck her head out from behind the robot's body, but quickly pulled back as a bolt nearly hit her. "The pistol of hers isn't very accurate at long range, but she is coming closer." A metal on metal scraping sound coming from their left told both modians that one of the crabs was moving towards them. "Any chance you can take that thing out?"

Sonic grunted in pain as he curled into a ball and spun in place to pick up speed. He shot forward and smashed through the crab while dodging a few shots from Raza. He crashed into a pile of junk and uncurled. He rubbed his injured shoulder as the act of curling up forced him to tighten it. "That hurt."

The armored woman turned and took aim at the downed hedgehog. "Got you."

Before she could pull the trigger, Sally dashed out from behind the cover. The chipmunk landed a strong kick to the back of Raza's left knee. It caused the woman to drop to her knee. Sally landed a spin kick to the hand holding the laser pistol and it flew out of Raza's grasp. Raza growled and responded to the attack with a punch to the right side of Sally's face. The blow knocked the mobian back, but she remained on her feet. Raza stood up straight and Sally tried not to let the size difference intimidate her. Not easy to do since Sally was only about four feet tall verses Raza's near six feet. Plus, Raza's combat armor easily added to the equation.

"You want to be first?" Raza grabbed the combat knife that was sheathed on the back of her belt. "Fine, I'll let the hedgehog watch as I skin you."

"You have some issues."

The armored woman shrugged. "Yeah, I do."

She lunged at Sally who had to jump back to avoid the blade. Raza was quick despite her armor and it was all the mobian could do to avoid getting cut by the blade. Sally's heart sunk when her back hit a pile of scrap. Raza charged, but Sally managed to slide between her legs before the blade could hit.

"Hang on my princess." Antione charged out of the hut, holding one of Rotor's makeshift chairs over his head. "I will protect you."

The coyote's eagerness caused him to not see a large rock on the ground. He tripped over it and fell face first into the ground. The chair flew from his grasp and landed about a foot away from Raza. This distracted Raza long enough for Sally to find a length of rusted pipe. As the human turned back towards the mobian, Sally struck her in the back of her head. Raza slumped to the ground, out cold.

Sally sighed with relief and sat down while leaning against an old girder. "Thanks Antione."

Antione coughed up some dirt. "Glad to be of service my princess."

"How about you Sonic?"

"A bit embarrassed, but I'll be fine." Sonic pushed himself to his feet and looked around. "Looks like the party is over." The scrapyard was devoid of all sound save for the occasional sound of falling metal. The robots had all been destroyed by either traps or the actions of the mobians. Sonic noticed that small animals climbed out of the remains of the damaged robots. "That is still weird." He waved to Rotor with his good arm as the walrus walked up. "Nice shooting. You're a real natural with that thing."

Rotor had an embarrassed smile on his face. "I'm just glad we survived." He looked around. "So, any idea on what to do next?"

"She has to have a ship somewhere on the island." Sally motioned towards the downed Raza. "I'm sure she won't mind if we barrow it." She pushed herself up and brushed of her pants. "But I can't help but wonder where Snively disappeared to."

Sonic chuckled a bit. "Baldy was here?"

"Yeah. He was in a cave not to far from here. Apparently someone if using the junk barges to smuggle gold ring enhanced items out of The Acorn Kingdom. Snively is the one picking them up and taking them someplace."

"First, he destroys the old ruins, then tires to kill me and Sally, and now this. He is certainly getting around."

"He could also show up at any minute." Antione began to look around nervously. "Perhaps we should be leaving before he does."

Sally nodded. "No argument here." She turned to Rotor. "You should probably come with us. We might be able to find out where your herd is."

"Sounds good to me. I was getting tired of rummaging through all this junk."

Sonic gave him a light punch to Rotor's arm. "Those traps were way cool. If we get a chance, I should introduce you to a friend of mine at Knothole Village."

"Sounds fun."

* * *

Opting to leave Raza on the island, rather than risk her breaking free from whatever bonds they could bind her with, the four mobians search the island and found her shuttle pod resting on a beach not far from where she had set her trap. Sonic had retrieved Nicole and his survival bag from the tree had hid them in before rescuing Antione. Figuring there was a way to recharge the hand unit, Sonic woke Nicole up. It took the AI only a moment to hack the shuttle's door and let them in. Sonic sat in the pilot's chair and hooked Nicole up to the shuttle's computer.

"Think you can fly this thing?"

"I believe so, Sonic." Lights began to turn on in the shuttle and everyone could hear the engines starting up.

Sally couldn't help but me amazed. "Your incredible."

"Thank you, Sally." The hand held flashed and a hologram of the archipelago that made up the majority of The Acorn Kingdom. "Using the records I found in the shuttle's database, I was able to determine our location. We are on a currently uncharted island at the edge of the kingdom. We have enough fuel to reach the main island, but just barely. If we run into trouble, it is possible the shuttle won't be able to make it."

Sally took a closer look at the hologram. "There should be a few air bases between here and home. A stop over wouldn't be a bad idea. But which one?"

Antione tapped Sally on the shoulder. "Jango would be a good idea. It is our biggest airbase. We could get an escort to take us the rest of the way."

"Treetop Village!" Sonic pointed to one of the islands. "We should go to Treetop Village."

Antione gave Sonic a puzzled look. "But it is just large trading post."

"He is right." Sally used her finger to trace a flight path from where they were, to Treetop Village, and then to the main island. "It is closer and there is a small military base there as well. Good call, Sonic."

The shuttle vibrated as it rose into the air. The hologram changed to reflect the path the shuttle would take to Treetop Village. "Setting course." Nicole beeped a few times. "We should arrive in about five hours."

"That should give us a chance get some sleep." Rotor said with a massive yawn. "I'm beat."

"Same." Sally headed towards the back. "But first let's see if we can find a med kit for Sonic's shoulder.

"Sonic?" Nicole's voice stopped Sonic from going to the back to search with the others. The computer lowered her voice so only he would hear her. "How did you know about the village? I don't recall father talking about it."

The hedgehog scratched his head. "Not sure to be honest. But I had to hear about it from somewhere."

* * *

The room was dark save for the twin beams of light shinning down from the ceiling. In one beam stood Raza. The other Snively. The short bald man had picked Raza up just as she woke up from the blow she had received. They had to meet with their employer about their failures. A pair of glowing red eyes in the darkness was the only indication that said employer was in the room. A voice as dark as the room they were in echoed.

"Explain!"

Snively made some whining sounds and even started to hiccup.

Raza rubbed her eyes. "A hedgehog interfered with the roundup of the village. He could move as incredibly fast speeds."

"A hedgehog?" The voice began to grow angry. "A single rodent managed to defeat a squad of highly trained and heavily armed troopers. A single rodent destroyed not one, but two assault vehicles and several of my robots."

A large screen appeared in the air in-between the two humans and the glowing eyes. It showed an aerial view of the island they had just come from.

"And to add to your success, my smuggling operation has been exposed." Several explosions went off all around the island to hide the evidence.

Snively finally managed to speak past his hiccups. "But I did manage to save the last shipment."

The voice sneered. "And that is why you will get another chance." A clear tube of plastic dropped from the ceiling and trapped Raza. "But I will have someone pay." Raza pounded on the glass. "A pity, you were a useful agent." The voice sounded remorseful. "But you will still be a useful tool."

Light composed of black, yellow, and white energy filled the tube. Raza's screams were muffled by the plastic tube. Her exposed skin began to turn pale and took on a metallic sheen. When the light finally vanished, Raza looked like metallic statue of herself. Snively nervously backed away as the tube retracted into the ceiling.

The Robotizer. A terrible device that could transform a living being into a machine. When used on mobians, it turns them into obedient slaves. When used on humans however, it made them into machines, but they couldn't move or act. Like they had no power source or operating system. This flaw didn't stop his employer from using it on them. The robotized human's body served as the base for his battle robots. The process however would make it forever impossible to return the human back to normal.

"I hope you won't disappoint me again, Snively."

"I won't, Lord Robotnik!"


	9. Treetop Village

The distance to Treetop Village wasn't very far, but Raza's shuttle wasn't built for speed. The events of the day had been draining and almost everyone took the opportunity to catch some sleep. Sally tried to take a nap, but a combination of the uncomfortable floor and the weight on her mind made sleeping impossible. She had to admire the boys who were happily snoring away, despite of everything. They had found bandages and some painkillers for Sonic, so that was one less thing to worry about. The chipmunk signed in defeat and headed towards the pilot seat. She sat down and watched as the shuttle flew over the water.

"Is everything alright, Sally?"

Sally nearly jumped out of the chair. "Oh, Nicole." She smiled at the handheld unit plug into the console. "You startled me."

"My apologizes. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Its alright. I just have a lot on my mind. It was only a few days ago, I was happily digging in the dirt, looking for old things, completely oblivious to the world around me. Now I am sitting in the shuttle of mobian hunter that tried to kill me. And several good people died trying to protect me. I am starting to wish I just stayed in the palace. Played the role of a royal princess that my father always wanted me too."

"You could have not predicted events would unfold they way they have. From my observations and listening to Sonic, I doubt that things would have been significantly different if you hadn't been in the equation. Raza still would have attacked Knothole and Snively was unaware of the fact you were at the dig site. If anything, if you hadn't been there, Sonic wouldn't have gotten involved and the smuggling operation wouldn't have been uncovered."

"I guess the makes some sense." Sally shifted in the seat to try and get more comfortable. "So what is your story? There are several AIs in Mobotropolis, but none seem as real as you."

"The programs you have encountered are most likely Virtual Intelligence rather than fully Artificial Intelligence. They have a set of premade responses to inquires and are unable to do anything outside of their base programing. While my father did some basic programing, the majority of my personality and intellect grew in a similar fashion a mobian's would."

"How so?"

"I do not think the story would be that interesting."

"Please. I truly am interested, and it might help take my mind off things for a while."

"As you wish? I am still unclear why father choose to create me, but he started with a simple algorithm that he added to over the course of several years. The first thing that I remember is him typing 'Hello' into my interface. At the time, I didn't know what the word meant, but I responded with it. As time passed, my awareness grew as father slowly introduced concepts to me. Rather than simply downloading them into my programing, he allowed me to absorb it at my own pace. Eventually, he presented me with a large array of voices into which to choose how I would communicate. I spent hours listening to each one before selecting the base voice that would eventually become my own. I adjusted the pitch and tone until I got the voice you are listening to now."

"It is a lovely voice."

"Thank you. Father then gave me the name Nicole. It was a name he hoped to give his future daughter. After that, I was raised alongside Sonic. I participated in the lessons that father gave Sonic, played computer games with him, and even enjoyed the bedtime stories father would tell. I used the times when everyone was asleep to practice my more computerized functions. Interfacing with devices and similar functions."

Sally yawned. "Sounds wonderful. Seems like you were treated more as a person than a computer."

"Yes. Often I wonder what I would have turned out like if father had opted to just download everything directly into my program rather than letting me learn and grow." Nicole seemed to pick up on the fact that Sally was starting to doze off. "Would you like to hear one of the bedtime stories father would tell Sonic?"

"Sure."

Nicole began telling Sally the story about The Hedgehog and The Dragon. Sally fell asleep before she could get past the first part. Nicole turned the shuttle lights down. "Sleep well, Sally!"

* * *

Treetop Village was a straight and to the point name for their destination. The island itself was only slightly larger than the island they had come from. This island was dominated by massive trees that covered all but a thin area of beach that circled the island. Looking like redwood trees rather than the palm trees, the bark of the trees was as hard as steel. Rather than waste time and energy cutting them all down, the mobians had opted to use them as the foundation for their village. Buildings were built on the branches and anchored to the trees with large spikes. Eventually a small military base was established by hollowing out a section of the largest tree. As the shuttle approached the village, Sally transmitted her id code, so the base wouldn't try and shoot them down. Nicole brought the shuttle down on one of the base's landing pads. As Sally stepped out, she noticed a much larger number of airships and shuttles than a base this size would normally have.

A skunk dressed in a military uniform and purple beret who appeared to be in his late thirties walked up and knelt in a respectful bow. "Greetings Princess. I am Commander Ian St. John. We were glad to hear you were unharmed."

Sally gave her own respectful bow. "It has been a troubling few days. I plan to make a full report to my father when I get to the mainland. What is a member of The Royal Secret Service doing here?"

"A shipment of gold rings is scheduled to leave here tomorrow for the kingdom. The king wanted to increase the security in light of all the raids that have been happening."

"Gold Rings?" Sonic stepped out of the shuttle with Rotor and Antione. "There are gold rings here?"

Ian stood up and looked at the hedgehog with suspicion. "And you are?"

Sally cut Sonic off before he could respond. "His name is Sonic and he saved my life no less than three times." She motioned to Rotor. "That is Rotor and he pulled me out of the ocean before I drowned." Sally smirked as Antione stood at attention. "And of course, I wouldn't be here without brave Antione."

Ian's face didn't change, but he gave both Sonic and Rotor a respectful bow of his head. "You have my thanks for safeguarding the princess's life." He turned to Antione and saluted. "I trained under your father General Armand D'Coolette. He will be very pleased to hear about your bravery."

"Thank you, sir." Antione returned the salute.

"Yes, Ant is very brave." Sonic looked around. "About those rings?"

"They are secured in the base. Why are you so interested in them?"

Sonic pointed at his injured arm in the sling. "I can use it to fix my shoulder."

"Nonsense." Ian gave Sonic a look over. "What mobian are you? Are you from one of the southern islands."

"I'm a hedgehog." He ran a hand over his quills. "These should have been a dead giveaway."

"Impossible." The skunk's hand moved closer to his blaster pistol. "There are no hedgehogs left. What trick are you playing at?"

"Commander!" Sally spoke up. "He is indeed a hedgehog and what harm is there in letting him try."

"Very well. But I am keeping my eye on him." Ian waved at them to follow as he walked into the base's warehouse.

* * *

Several stacks of metal crates sat at the center of the warehouse with several guards around them. Sitting on top of one of them was a mid-twenty-year-old purple-and-white weasel with a long-bent tail and blue eyes. He wore what appeared to be combat armor that was designed to be lighter than the traditional armor the rest of the guards were wearing. A brown well-worn fedora sat on his head. As soon as the weasel spotted Ian and the others, he jumped off the crate and gave a mock salute.

"How is it going boss?" His accent hinted that he was from one of the southernmost islands. When the weasel opened his mouth, everyone could see the large pointed tooth on the right side of his mouth. "You now doing the kiddie's tour?"

"Show some respect, mercenary. You are in the presence of the royal princess."

"Oh!" The weasel stepped up to Sally, knelt and kissed her hand. "Nack at your service your highness. I take it you will be joining us on our journey to the capital."

Sally did her best to hide her distain. "Yes."

"Normally I would have to raise my rate, but I will make an exception for you." Nack let go of her hand and stood up. "If you will excuse me, with the commander here, I think I will go grab a quick bite. Care to join me?"

"I will have to decline. I have business to take care of with the commander."

"Later then." He walked off.

Ian's fists tightened. "Damn mercenary. He was hired for security, but he has been disrespectful since day one."

Antione snorted. "Then why keep that fool around?"

The skunk sighed. "He is the best around. If it wasn't for his help, we would have lost three major engagements with human forces. But I wouldn't mind teaching him some respect."

Ian walked toward the crate and entered a code onto the keypad built into the lid. With a hiss it unsealed, and the lid lifted open. The area was covered in a golden glow that came from the open crate.

"Wow!" Rotor, who had been quietly watching everyone walked up to the crate, memorized by the glow. Inside the create was a large pile of gold rings. "I've never seen so many in one place. I was only able to find a few on my island."

"Yes!" Ian picked one of the rings out of the create. "We still don't know how the appear or quite what they are made of, but they are the reason we beat the humans in the war." He reluctantly handed it to Sonic. "I wouldn't try and steal it, or the guards will put you down. Many of the guards with rifles turned towards the hedgehog as Ian spoke.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Sonic held the ring up with his good arm. "But I am afraid I won't be able to give it back." The ring flashed with golden light, that enveloped the hedgehog. It vanished, and Sonic tore off his sling. He rolled his shoulder around and smirked. "All better."

Everyone in the room was silent as they tried to understand what just happened.

* * *

Nack's trip to the mess hall was stopped short when his wrist communicator started to beep. He grumbled a bit as he turned from the mess hall and headed for one of the side hangers. It was one of the smallest and at the time, only contained his personal vehicle, The Marvelous Queen. A sky cycle where the words heavily modified wouldn't come close to describing everything Nack had done to it. From the weapons to the ion-engine, there was little remaining of its stock components. After double checking he had disabled the hanger's security cameras and mics, Nack unlocked the controls of his vehicle with his wrist communicator and pressed a small button on the control panel. A small screen slid out in-between the handlebars and an image of Snively appeared on it.

"Fang! I have another job for you."

Snively was asking for Nack's alias he worked under. Fang the Sniper was the name he used for the less than pleasant jobs. Typically, ones that ran counter to mobian interests. The communication system would scramble his image and voice to keep his identity secret.

"What is it Swinely?"

"That's Snively!"

"I fail to see how that sounds better."

Snively mumbled some curses before continuing. "A hedgehog has appeared and caused me no end of problems."

"A hedgehog?" Despite walking away, he hadn't missed Sonic's stunt with the ring.

"Yes. A blue one that can run at incredibly fast speeds." The image of Snively changed to show some footage of Sonic taken from the vehicles Snively had used to destroy the ruins. "I know you usually eliminate your targets and while that is an acceptable outcome, I would prefer if you could bring him to me alive."

"If you want him alive, it will be triple my usual bring in alive rate."

"WHAT?"

"Hedgehogs are a very rare mobian. You have any idea how much I could get for his hide in the human lands. But I'll be fair, if I must kill him, I'll only charge you double my rate."

"Do you think you can extort Snively the Great?"

"Not at all. Fill free to find another bounty hunter capable of doing the job for less. I'll wait."

More cursing followed before Snively sighed in defeat. "Very well. Contact me when the job is done." The screen went dark.

Nack laughed as he opened on of the cycle's storage compartments. "Easy money."

* * *

With Sally busy calling her family on the main island. Sonic and Rotor decided to spend the few hours before nightfall exploring the village. Sonic had never been to a village, save for his brief visit to Knothole and Rotor's only experience was with his herd since they rarely interacted with other mobians. Sally gave Rotor some money, just incase they wanted to grab a bite to eat. Sonic looked at one of the thin strips of metal Sally had provided as he and Rotor walked out of the base. It was cool to the touch and had the seal of the kingdom of acorn and some numbers engraved on it.

"This is money?"

"Yeah! My herd kept some when they would deal with traders at ports. It is made from gold rings that didn't have any of the magical properties they typically have. They come in verity of sizes and shapes."

Sonic handed the strip back to Rotor. "Wouldn't that get heavy?"

The Walrus shrugged. "I guess. But they seem to manage."

The two stopped as the reached they edge of the village. A large wooden platform had been built across several massive branches. Stalls and small structures dotted the platform to offer good and services to the traders that came to the island. Several airship landing pads were in the distance and lifts leading down to boat docks could be seen. It was busy with activity as mobians of all types went about their business.

"Never seen so many in one place." Sonic looked around a little nervously. "Not a lot of running room either."

"I'm not a fan of crowds either."

"Hmmm!" Sonic sniffed the air. "I hope my nose isn't lying to me." The hedgehog took off in a direction as quickly as he could given the crowd.

A large window stall was set up on the side of a larger restaurant. Built for the travelers who didn't have time for a sit-down meal, it had a verity of food for the mobian on the go. One of them was fresh hotdogs with a pot of chili not to far away. The female rabbit behind the counter was a little startled when Sonic suddenly appeared.

"Can I help you?"

"Two chilidogs with the works please."

"Certainly, that will be two strips."

"Huh?"

"Two gold strips. To pay for the chilidogs."

"Oh!"

Thankfully Rotor managed to catch up to Sonic. He had to lean against the counter to catch his breath as he had to practically run to catch up. "Not to complain, but could you move a little slower."

"Sorry, Rote." He patted him on the shoulder. "I am not use to having to watch my pace. I was entranced by the aroma of that wonderful chili. Do you still have that money we got from Sally?"

Rotor nodded and straightened up. "I'm a bit famished myself. I enjoy fish, but I was starting to get a little sick of it. I'll have what you're having."

After completing the transactions, Sonic and Rotor moved off to a small seating area nearby to eat. Rotor sniffed the chilidogs. "I never eaten one of these before, but it does smell good."

"Trust me. You'll never eat anything better." Sonic rubbed his hands for a moment before picking up one of the chilidogs. As he started to take his first bite, he stopped and slowly set it down on the plate.

"Something wrong?"

Sonic looked around and seemed to spot something. "I'll be right back."

"Do you want me to…." Rotor was cut off as Sonic got to his feet and walked into the crowd. "I guess not."

* * *

Sonic did his best to move through the crowd quickly as he could. What had caught his attention was someone wearing a light red cloak. Whoever it was, spotted him before he got close and took off down a small alley way. Luckily, the alley was deserted, so Sonic was able to pick up speed when he got to the alley. As he reached the end, a large object slammed into his head and knocked him out cold.


End file.
